


Bones and Brains

by Gocholuv



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, But mostly fluff, F/M, Female Reader, Fluff and Angst, Mute Frisk (Undertale), Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), SO MUCH FLUFF, Scientist Sans (Undertale), Slow Burn, Yeah boiiii, Zombie Apocalypse, alphys is a weeb, get ready for anime references, gonna have fun with this, idk - Freeform, lemme know what y'all think, well maybe medium burn, will add to the tags as i go, you're a zombie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23851891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gocholuv/pseuds/Gocholuv
Summary: AU where the monsters surfaced right after a zombie apocalypse destroyed the world. Since monsters are made of dust, they aren't hunted as a food source. So what to do now? Help what's left of humanity beat back the parasitic virus in exchange for peaceful cohabitation, of course! But what happens when an anomaly in the field tests appears?Zombie Reader Insert. I suck at summaries, but take a look anyways, and let me know what you think! CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is very much appreciated!
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 61
Kudos: 253





	1. Field Test

**Author's Note:**

> Papyrus accompanies Sans outside of the compound for a field test. 
> 
> -Hey y'all! Thanks for checking out my story. I've always been a reader, not a writer. But I couldn't wait to type this one out, and I can't wait to see where it goes. Let me know what you think!

Sans studied his clipboard as they approached the protective fence that bordered the compound. “awright, test number 76: olfactory driven pursuit.”

“AH YES. THE...AH, GOOD OLD FACTORY..UM...SANS?”

“yeah pap?”

Papyrus fiddled with his scarf with a confused look. “J-JUST SO THAT I KNOW YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS… WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?”

Sans couldn’t help but grin. “means we’re checkin’ their sense of smell. see if the smell of a live human is what drives em to attack.”

They reached the edge of the yard, stopping just before the yellow spray paint on the ground that marked where it was too dangerous for humans to cross. Some of the creatures outside noticed their proximity to the fenceline, and began to shuffle forward.

Papyrus brightened. “AH. GLAD TO SEE YOU UNDERSTAND! SO, UH, HOW DO WE TEST THAT? JUST SO I KNOW YOU KNOW. I KNOW, OF COURSE, BUT I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU KNOW.”

“i know you know bro. you’re so cool like that.”

He puffed his chest with pride. “NYEH HEH HEH, THAT I AM! SOOO..?” Papyrus gestured for him to continue.

Sans shifted his clipboard under his arm as he pulled two numbered baggies out of his lab coat's pockets. Each bag held a single hotcat. “well, we got these hotcats, and we got frisk to mess with one. puts the smell of a human on ‘em. we’re gonna see if the infected ones go after the hotcat that smells like a healthy human or not. if they do, then we know they use smell to track food. if not,” he shrugged, “now we know.”

“YOU ARE VERY SMART WHEN YOU AREN’T BEING SO LAZY,” his brother marveled. “YOU SHOULD DO THIS MORE OFTEN!” 

“heh, i guess i am pretty sans-sational, huh,” Sans winked.

His pun had the intended effect, as Papyrus’s smile immediately fell. “I TAKE IT BACK. YOU ARE TERRIBLE EITHER WAY”, he deadpanned.

“thanks, bro”, Sans chuckled as he crossed the hazard line to the emitter linked to a small generator sitting by the fence line. The crowd started to try to reach for him through the fence, seemingly more out of habit than anything. (Skeletons didn't have flesh, after all. Apparently, this concept could be grasped even if you didn’t have a working brain.) He eyed the groaning cretins coolly as he punched numbers into a keypad on the device. “ready to start?”

Papyrus buzzed with excitement, his eyesockets practically sparkling. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS READY!!!”

-

Sans gave him a warm smile, then turned back to the emitter. “cool. let’s get this party started then. it’s gettin’ kinda crowded, so we’ll need to push ‘em back a little. beginning frequency range at 60Mhz.”

He pressed a large button on the emitter, which immediately burst out into an uncomfortably high-pitched whine. The crowd reacted _instantaneously,_ dozens of piercing shrieks ringing through the air. All of them staggered back, clutching their rotting skulls in immense pain. The horde of wailing monstrosities continued to stagger away from the fence, until they reached past the range of the device.

Papyrus gaped in amazement. “WOWIE! THEY SURE DON’T LIKE THAT NOISE. I’VE NEVER SEEN THEM JUMP BACK FROM THE FENCE LIKE THAT!”

“we found out high pitch noises like this one hurts em pretty bad,” Sans explained, “also helps test if they wanna risk getting hurt by the frequency for food.” He held out the hotcat in the bag labeled ‘#1’ to Papyrus. “throw the control hotcat over for me?”

Papyrus peered into the bag at the hotcat. “WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS ONE?”

“nothin’, this one’s just a regular hotcat, no smell or anything. makes the test more reliable. if i’m right, they shouldn't go after this one.”

He pulled out the hotcat, weighing it in his hand. “ALRIGHT, HERE GOES!!” He winded his arm back and hurled the hotcat over the fence with a ‘NYEH’ of exertion.

The hotcat soared in the air in a high arc before hitting the ground near the wary horde with a thud. Eyeing it curiously, some wandered over and gave the offending hotcat a sniff. None of them remained interested in it for long, and began to slowly trek off in different directions in their constant search for something appetizing.

Sans pulled a pencil out of his lab coat and scribbled something onto the clipboard. “control reaction as expected. sweet.”

“CAN I THROW THE SMELLY ONE NOW?!”

“sure, go ahead. ' _f_ _ranks’_ a lot, bro.”

”...OH MY GOD.”

“i _relish_ our time together.”

“SANS. PLEASE. STOP.”

“sorry, paps. didn’t mean to _bun_ you out.”

Papyrus’ incoherent screeching only made Sans laugh harder. 

“okay, okay, i’ll stop”, he wheezed, wiping a nonexistent tear away from his socket. “chuck the other ‘cat for me, please?”

Papyrus crossed his arms. “I DON'T WANT TO DO IT NOW.”

“c’mon bro, pretty please? ‘s for science.”

He relented after a moment, snatching the second baggie. “UGH, FINE. BUT ONLY BECAUSE I DEEPLY ENJOY THROWING THINGS.”

After being freed from it’s baggie prison, the human-scented hotcat soared through the air to join it’s comrade. This time, however, the reaction was far different.

The experiment’s participants had been far more interested in the second hotcat from the moment the seal of the bag was broken, but had kept their distance just out of range of the shrieking frequency emitter. As soon as the poor hotcat had hit the ground, it was descended upon in a heartbeat. The undead lab rats screeched and snarled at each other, ripping the hotcat to shreds and trying to quickly stuff it into their gaping maws. Some farther away from the center of the fight had even resorted to reaching into other’s mouths to yank away bits of the mauled hotcat, and trying to hide it inside their own. A couple of stray bitten-off fingers fell to the ground, forgotten in the mindless struggle for a mouthful of allegedly human flesh.

Papyrus grimaced, unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle. “UGH...GROSS…”

Sans had to agree with him. “always hated watching em eat. look at em swarming it...:” He scribbled something else down, glancing up every once in a while to note how long it took the frenzy to die down. “welp. at least our hypothesis was right. you may have thrown it a little too far, but we’ll just test the second part another time.”

Papyrus pointed towards the first hotcat’s landing site. “WHAT ABOUT THAT ONE?”

Sans followed his gaze to the first hotcat. A single lone straggler, attracted by the sound of the scuffle, had found the unscented one and picked it up. After giving it a tentative sniff, it calmly and delicately bit into it, holding the hotcat like someone with all of their mental faculties would. Half of the lower part of its face had rotted away, leaving a dirty white chunk of skull to be exposed. It had to tilt its head to keep the hotcat from sliding out of the exposed part of its mouth, but otherwise ate normally. It even took reasonably sized bites _and_ chewed them, a far cry from the savage display the skeletons had just watched.

Sans gawked at the (apparently) civilized zombie, who had plopped down to enjoy its hotcat. “…..uh. huh. that’s...huh. not s’posed to do that.”

“....IS IT SICK?”

“pap, they’re _all_ sick.” He fished around his coat pockets for his phone, scrambling to record the bizarre spectacle. “why isn’t it going after the other one? can it not smell it? of course it can, it's definitely in range. where’d it learn that? _stars_ , that's weird...”

Papyrus considered the small creature. It had finished its meal and staggered to its feet, dusting its ragged and torn clothes off. “I DON’T KNOW, BROTHER. MAYBE IT’S GETTING BETTER!”

Sans scoffed as he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “c’mon, paps, they can’t-” he stopped to watch it rub the crumbs off of its face and shuffle off silently toward a broken down city in the distance. “-well. actually? i have no clue. you may be onto somethin’, who knows. either way, it’s an anomaly.” He started to write on his clipboard again, eyelights flickering up to try and pin down an accurate description of the stray outlier.

Papyrus perked up. “LET’S GET UNDYNE TO CATCH IT! THEN WE CAN BRING IT IN AND HELP IT GET BETTER!” 

He looked far too hopeful about the idea for Sans to shut him down. “heh, we’ll see, bro. for now, let’s get this data to al and see what she says. if she gives us the green light, we’ll get undyne to grab it, 'kay?”

He deflated. “...WHAT IF IT RUNS OFF BEFORE UNDYNE CAN CAPTURE IT?”

Sans turned away from the fence and started to walk back to the compound. “looks kinda beat up, doubt it’d go far. she’d prolly find it in the city somewhere.”

“HM. IF YOU SAY SO.”

Papyrus was silent for a moment. He trailed behind his brother, turning around to take one last look at the little oddball. “….DO YOU THINK WE COULD TEACH IT TO LIKE FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI?”

Sans grinned as he reached the door. “we’ll see bro, we’ll see. gotta make sure it’s safe before we consider the _pasta_ -bilities.”

Another unintelligible screech rang out in the otherwise silent yard before the door to the compound shut after them.

  
  



	2. Home Base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A piece is restored, and the trek back takes forever. Meanwhile, a compromise is reached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PEOPLE??? ARE READING THIS??  
> Thanks so much for all the comments! Also, shout out to the person who bookmarked the first chapter with 'yeehaw'. This one's for you, pardner.

You rubbed your skull as best you could as you walked, hoping to soothe the oncoming ache from the taller one’s screech. Normally, a sound like that would be somewhat tolerable, but today was different.

Today, you tried again to concentrate.

It had started with the sound of a fight a little ways off from you, and you had followed it back to the source. Everyone was fighting over something, and while it had the faint smell of a meal, you knew it couldn’t be. There wasn’t any screaming, or loud pops, or the juice that always filled the food everyone craved so desperately. Couldn’t they see that?

Then again, everyone else knew things differently than you did. Nobody thought to question why whatever they were attacking wasn’t even screaming. Even little meals screamed, that was just a fact. But they didn’t seem to notice the thing on the ground either.

You had approached it cautiously, ready to bolt if someone challenged you over it. It looked...familiar? It squished a little when you scooped it up, but otherwise just sat in your cupped hands. You brought it to your nose and inhaled. It smelled like something you knew, a long time ago. Something you were fond of? The object seemed to be off, in a way. 

You were...holding it wrong. That was it! You weren’t supposed to hold it like that. You adjusted it to be held in one hand, one of the ends pointing toward you. 

Was it...food? It seemed to be, somehow. One way to find out.

You automatically tilted your head to the side and took a small bite. It seemed to be somewhat decent, at least. It seemed to be missing something, but you weren’t quite sure what. What it was exactly still escaped you, but food was food, and it was yours.

Content, you settled yourself to sit down and eat. Something told you to enjoy it for as long as you could…

Your eyes wandered over to the two figures gawking at you as you finished your hotdog-

**...hotdog. Hotdog. HOTDOG.**

You stiffened. It came to you all at once, screaming in your ears and twisting inside of your head like it was going to burst your skull apart-

_You were laughing at what someone said as you all sat in the &ac*y#7rd for the barbeque. _ ( barbeque..?) _A delicious smell in the air makes your stomach growl_ ( this hunger..it feels different? _)Someone hands you a $l^@t >, their face blurred and hazy. _

_You’re sitting down to eat your two_ **_hotdogs_ ** _on what ended up to be your last gathering together. Before...before.._

(before? Before what?)

-it was over as quickly as it had come.

Wide-eyed and shaking, you released a shallow, rattled breath.

….what was _that?_

\-----

  
  
  


Turns out, the place you had gotten the hotdog from was pretty far away from the city, at least by undead standards. You would be the first to own up to how slow you really were, shuffling doggedly toward your place of refuge. Your full belly seemed to be worth it, though.

The pain was awful this time around. It clawed your rotted brain and forced you to pay attention to it, making it difficult to remember where you were going. 

Not that it mattered. At the pitiful speed this crowd was going, you had all the time in the world to collect your thoughts.

The hordes were always thicker in this part of the crumbling city, and choked the otherwise abandoned streets. The street was hard enough to navigate, even without the massive numbers: broken down cars, crumbling concrete barriers, and even massive piles of trash bags were all that remained of the great civilization that had tried so hard to block all of you out. Now, long after they were gone, the barriers were useless. If anything, it was just an inconvenience now. The difficult clutter combined with the maddeningly slow gait of your average zombie to create the ultimate trial to both the alive and the undead: Rush Hour.

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to turn to get out. You had been so preoccupied by the pain in your head you hadn’t even noticed your positioning in the middle of the crowd until it was too late to move. You’d be stuck until they finally dispersed, which, frankly, you didn’t have the patience for today. 

Something jostled you from behind, hard. Usually a bump from someone close by wasn’t malicious, the undead were notoriously clumsy and it took real effort to control a body. But that hard? That was intentional.

Another hard bump this time from the guy behind you. He growled at you, which you deciphered as something like “ **C’mon, C’mon! MOVE ALREADY!”**

“ **I can’t go any faster. You’re just gonna have to wait like the rest of us”** , you gurgled calmly.

The crowd slowed significantly as everyone began to merge single file to bypass the upturned 18-wheeler up ahead.

Another growl, louder this time. “ **C’mon, you idiots! I’m rotting in place here!! Move it or lose it!!** ”

His loud, guttural complaints in your ear canal only made the pain worsen, but you had resolved to simply ignore him. That is, until you were shoved from behind, _hard._

Before you could turn around to scream in his face, someone shambling next to you addressed him with a cool groan. “ **Hey buddy. You just blow in from stupid town? She can’t go any faster, none of us can. You’re just gonna have to wait your damn turn.** ”

Someone behind the tailgater began to pipe up, only to be interrupted by someone in front of you. Others began to chime in with their opinions, and before long the horde you were stuck in the middle of had erupted into everyone howling their personal opinion at once. 

You couldn’t take this anymore, you had to get out of here. You finally just shoved your way to the side of the horde with several apologetic groans, and turned into the alleyway.

The endless maze that was the backstreets certainly took a lot longer, but at least it was quiet. The only sound echoing off the brick walls on either side was the dragging of your leg as you walked. You had the limp for as long as you were able to recall, it was simply the hand you were dealt. You were a slow walker either way, so it wasn’t as if it truly mattered.

You continued through the alleyways, twisting and turning for what seemed like an eternity before you popped out at where you wanted to be. You had always been fond of this building, whatever it used to be. Looking at the decoration on the front always seemed to comfort you, even if most of the building’s entrance was coated in an old meal’s liquid. Someone really needed to scrape that crap off. You edged open the door and limped inside. 

\---

The door swung open violently, almost making Alphys knock her cup noodles onto her computer. Undyne automatically summoned a spear, ready to take on the sudden intruder. When they saw who it was, though, they both relaxed. 

“HELLO ALPHYS AND UNDYNE! WE HAVE RETURNED FROM OUR FIELD TEST,” Papyrus announced.

Undyne grinned widely at him as she slid off Alphys' desk. “Heya, Pap! How’d it go out there??”

He beamed. “I THREW HOTCATS OVER THE FENCE!!”

Sans strode in behind him calmly, and made his way past the enthusiastically chattering duo into the office he and Alphys shared. It was a decently sized room, cluttered with different boxes full of papers and blueprints that were stacked everywhere there was space. Their two desks were pushed to face each other, both covered in stacks of papers and files (though one desk was _also_ covered in empty instant noodle cups and colorful figurines, a topic hotly debated over. Especially when the Leaning Tower of Noodle Cups came crashing down onto the other desk recently.)

Sans flipped through his papers on the clipboard as he approached his desk, doing his best impression of acting natural. “hey alph.”

Alphys, still on edge from his brother’s unexpected entrance, was none the wiser. “H-hey sans. Do you have the results for me?”

_bingo_. His grin widened. “suuure do.” He handed her the papers and sat back to watch the show.

The look on her face was _priceless_. Her eyes widened as she flipped through the papers with increasing alarm. Her neck darkened from a calm yellow to an ashen gray within mere seconds of being handed the paper. 

“Ugh, what?!” Her nervous stutter was gone as she read his final comments on the field test. “Hypothesis confirmed: infected subjects rely on sense of smell to detect prey?? There’s no way!!” 

Victorious, he leaned back in his chair with a proud smirk. “told you i could _sniff_ out a good result.”

“But some of them don't even have olfactory receptors anymore!! Their reliance on smell would just hinder them over time!”

His smirk grew. “and yet.”

Her neck darkened more, almost pitch black. “I want a retest.”

He shrugged. “that's fine. but i won the bet, and you know what that means.”

Alphys looked like he had just snapped a figurine’s head off, recoiling in her chair. “N-no! I r-refuse!”

His smile had turned _diabolical,_ so big it looked like it would split his face. “c’mon alph. we shook on it. you were gonna make me watch all of sailor scouts supreme with you. so you have to do my thing now. ”

A sigh from his doomed deskmate. “...f-fine. I-I was wrong, and you were right. You’re soooo much smarter than me…”

“weeeelll?”

“…….”

“c’moon, finish it up.”

Aphys shot him the darkest glare she could muster as she crossed her arms. “….s- _sans_ ei”, she muttered.

He hummed, satisfied. “there ya go. how’s the blood work going?”

The change of subject seemed to make her brighten, just a little. “It’s going pretty good, actually! After the tweaks, the machines seem to be able to run the infected blood through with no problems!”

“sweet. any similarities?”

She turned to her computer screen and waved him over. “Let me show you.” 

She pulled up a long chart of different numbers, each belonging to a different donor. Some donors had names, while others simply had a serial code. She hovered her mouse over the donor columns marked with yellow, representing infection. “As you can see, the blood work is surprisingly normal for the most part, m-minus the parasite of course. One thing that definitely jumps out though is the DT levels per cell. At first, the machine was reading their levels as negative, which obviously wasn’t right. After I programmed the patch to accommodate the lower levels, we finally got some positive numbers. T-They’re abysmal, but still there. I also made it so we can compare their blood to all the healthy samples I got from Frisk and everyone else in the facility.” 

“al, that’s awesome!”

Her enthusiasm could have given Pap a run for his G, elated at the reaction to her hard work. “I-Isn’t it?? There is a small issue though, I’m out of infected samples.” She turned to Undyne. “Undyne, c-could you get some more for me?”

Before she could respond, Papyrus cut in. “UNDYNE CAN GET MORE SAMPLES WHILE SHE CAPTURES OUR NEW FRIEND!”

Undyne quirked an eyebrow. “New friend? You guys find somebody stuck outside or something?”

Papyrus turned to Sans excitedly, motioning for him to explain to the captain of the Royal Guard why they needed to bring in something that would otherwise be shot on sight inside the fence. This wasn’t going to be easy, but if Sans had to pick between sparing himself from Undyne’s inevitable rage and disappointing his baby bro, he knew in a soulbeat what he’d pick. He turned to Alphys, hoping for a more science oriented reaction. “there was a, uh.. outlier to the field test. one didn’t want the scented hotcat.”

She was only flummoxed for a moment, turning to her cup noodles. “Well, that’s to be expected. Specimens who are mostly decomposed won’t bother going after anything stationary-”

“this one still had everything, cept for a patch on its mouth.” He dug around for his phone and pulled up the video. 

“A-Are you sure?”

“that’s not all.” He turned his screen toward her and hit play. The video was cut off in a diamond shape from having to be pressed between the gaps of the fence, but there it was, in the middle of the screen. The little outlier, reclining on the grass and eating a hotcat like a regular human being.

Alphys almost spit out the noodles she was attempting to eat, her eyes wide. She yanked the phone away from him, and replayed the video. “Wh...th-that’s not p-possible. It doesn’t look freshly bitten or anything..”

He leaned against her desk. Undyne, curious, came up to stand behind Alphys and leaned in. Papyrus remained where he was, and gave his brother two thumbs up as they watched the video through a couple times.

Alphys adjusted her glasses, squinting at the small phone screen. “...huh...i see what you mean about it’s mouth. It’s even compensating for it’s injury…” she mumbled.

Despite his brother’s silent pleading, Papyrus couldn’t contain himself any longer: “IT’S VERY SMART! SANS SAID WE COULD BRING IT INSIDE AND HELP IT GET BACK TO NORMAL!”

Undyne turned to glare at Sans. If looks could kill, her spears would’ve been obsolete. “He did, did he?” Sweat beaded on his skull as he gave her a sheepish grin.

Alphys winced, clearly dreading telling the taller skeleton ‘no’. “I-I d-don’t know about that, Papyrus…” 

She glanced back at the phone she was holding, and thought for a moment. She played the video again, conflicted. “W-well. At the very least, let’s start with some blood samples. I wanna do a full cell count and blood work”, she decided. “Anything you wanna add to that, Sans?”

He blinked, not expecting an answer that wasn’t ‘ _hell no.’_

“well, if we end up at the point where we actually do need to grab it for something, i say we chip it. “

She handed his phone back. “Alright, I’ll get one ready then.”

Undyne seemed to be thinking it over still, but she didn’t contradict Alphys. With one last glare at Sans, she straightened to leave. 

Papyrus looked at Sans, messing with his scarf. “BUT...HOW WILL WE KNOW IF IT WILL COME BACK TO THE FENCE?”

“don’t worry bro. it knows this is a place it got fed at, it’ll wander back sooner or later. just gotta be patient”, he reassured him. His grin stretched back into something more mischievous. “and when it gets here, we’ll nab those samples..”

He winked. “and have a _bloody_ good time.”

A collective, agonized groan from his victims. Ah, what a beautiful sound.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never underestimate the resilience of the human instinct to be a jerk in a public area.
> 
> Also, Alphys' neck darkening is a reference to bearded dragons, who's "beard" darkens when they're stressed or upset. It can range from light gray to pitch black depending on how upset they are! 
> 
> As always, let me know what you thought of the chapter!


	3. Waiting It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gentle reminder of the second word of the phrase "Zombie Apocalypse".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not as lighthearted, unfortunately. Mild violence and gore? I guess?

It had been precisely four days, twelve hours, and thirty-six minutes since the anomaly had come to the compound for food. Not that anyone was counting.

That was a lie. Papyrus was counting. And had been counting since the moment it was agreed that samples were needed. He had his Very Excellent New Friend Master Plan all laid out, and for it to progress, it had to return for samples. 

Neither Alphys nor Sans knew exactly how long a zombie could go before they became hungry, or how long it took them to starve. Stars, it could be dead by now...

Papyrus shook his head vigorously. Thinking like that would never do! These infected humans were known to be incredibly hardy, surviving all sorts of circumstances and setbacks! If hunger could stop them, there wouldn’t be nearly as many! Plus, they were already dead. So there was nothing to fear, he just had to think positive.

He struck a bold pose with his hands on his hipbones, and continued to keep watch for the anomaly. It had started raining around hour eight today, and continued to pour, but it was no trouble at all for the Great Papyrus. He had no skin to feel the chill, after all!

Something came clunking through the mud behind him towards the fence. He didn’t have to turn his head to know who it was. His deduction skills were top notch, you see.

“Uh, Pap? You’re still out here??”

Undyne came to stand beside him, facing the outside. She must have just returned from patrolling the monster side of the compound. While the human portion took up more of the upper floors, the monster portion had more of the fenceline, and needed to be patrolled frequently.

“OF COURSE!!

“Whoa. Gotta admire your fighting spirit, dude, but it’s been a while.”

He beamed proudly. “I AM THE BEST AT HAVING FIGHTING SPIRIT!! AND, WELL, YES, IT’S BEEN SOME TIME. BUT!! IT SHALL BE RETURNING ANY MOMENT NOW!!! AND WHAT KIND OF FRIEND WOULD I BE IF THEY WERE OUT HERE ALL BY THEMSELVES AT THE GATE??”

“...THE ANSWER IS A BAD ONE. I WOULD BE A BAD FRIEND.” 

She scanned the horizon, barren of any movement. “Uh, well, any sign of it?”

His shoulders sagged. “UNFORTUNATELY, NO. I MUST ADMIT, I HAVE GROWN A TAD WORRIED ABOUT OUR NEW FRIEND.”

His change in demeanor was concerning, to say the least. He hadn’t even seen this thing twice, and he was already far too attached. Undyne didn’t know if she could bring herself to spit out the news she had come to tell him. “….I’m sure it’s fine, Pap. It probably doesn’t like the rain, anyways. 

But, as always, it didn’t take long for Papyrus to bounce back. “YOU KNOW, YOU’RE PROBABLY RIGHT!!” His eye sockets burned with fiery hope. “I BET IT’S COMPLETELY SAFE SOMEWHERE DRY, WHERE NOTHING CAN HURT IT!!” 

Oof. That was probably the worst time in the conversation to bring it up. Something like this would probably best go over a bit more tactfully than what she could manage. And if there was one thing Undyne was truly weak at, it was sugar coating something.

She rubbed the back of her helmet. “Well, Pap, about that… I came out here to tell you somethin.”

“WHAT’S THAT?”

She almost chickened out when he turned to look her in the eye. Almost. She drew in a breath before she began.

“I came to tell you.. ‘Bout an hour ago, a human squadron went out to the old city to try and gather medicine. They won’t be back for a while, and..it could get pretty nasty for ‘em out there.”

He didn’t seem to understand what she was trying to tell him. Well, fine. If that’s how this has to be, might as well bite the bullet. She turned to the fence again.

“If they see any of those things coming, they’ll get rid of em pretty quick. So, on the off chance it doesn’t come back...that’s why. I didn’t want to get your hopes up for nothing, Pap.”

“...”

Before she had come out into the courtyard, she was already preparing for a negative reaction. She still had no idea why one goddamn brain eater sitting in the dirt eating a filthy hotcat deserved so much attention, or why everyone seemed to be so invested in it coming back. Especially Papyrus.

Out of all the different ways he could have reacted to this, silence was probably the worst out of all of them.

“Pap?”

Undyne  _ really  _ wished she had kept her eye on the fence. Papyrus stared straight ahead, his face contorted into the most heartbroken expression. 

His usually booming voice was deathly quiet. “BUT… THEY ARE HUMAN, ARE THEY NOT? THE ZOMBIES, THEY’RE HUMAN, THEY’RE JUST  _ SICK.  _ ALPHYS AND SANS ALWAYS SAY THE SAME THING, THEY’RE JUST  _ SICK  _ HUMANS. INFECTED. SO..SO WHY WOULD THEY HURT THEM..? IF THEY’RE WORRIED ABOUT BEING BITTEN, WHY CAN’T THEY JUST WEAR BATTLE BODIES? WH-WHY DO THEY HAVE TO HURT THEM..? THEY’RE STILL HUMAN..”

Undyne immediately tried to backtrack. “Pap, I’m sorry I brought up, just forget I said-”

“W-WE HAVE THE FREQUENCY! IT MIGHT HURT THEIR HEADS WHEN WE USE IT, BUT IT KEEPS THEM BACK, THEY JUST GET HEADACHES, WE DON’T HAVE TO  _ HURT  _ THEM-”

His hands had curled up into fists, his breathing shallow. 

“WHAT IF THEY HURT IT? WHAT IF.. WHAT IF THEY FIND IT IN THE CITY AND ATTACK IT? WHAT IF THEY ATTACK IT AND IT GETS HURT AND IT CAN’T COME BACK HERE? A-AND WE CAN’T HELP IT GET BETTER? AND IF WE CAN’T HELP IT GET BETTER, WE WON’T KNOW HOW TO HELP ANY OF THEM, AND THEY’LL KEEP GETTING HURT?”

The rattle of his bones shaking in his armor told Undyne just how badly the thought had scared him. The sick feeling of guilt in her gut only doubled when she noticed the small pricks of orange pooling in the corner of his eye sockets.

He turned to look at her pleadingly. “WE..WE CAN’T JUST LET THEM HURT IT!”

Undyne’s SOUL lurched in her chest. Out of all the ways she could have told him something could happen, this was probably the worst way she could have gone about it. 

“Pap…”

He started to sniffle as he wrenched at his scarf. It seemed he couldn’t decide between looking at her or the fence. Even after what she had said, he was still waiting for his new little buddy. It was very clear how hard it was for Sans to tell his brother anything negative, the poor guy was way too empathetic and sweet.

Damn it. She couldn’t take anymore of this. She gripped him by the shoulders and tried to plaster on a big toothy smile under her helmet.

“H-Hey! I’m sure it’s doing just fine!! It was super smart, right?? And it didn’t go after the smelly hotcat, right??”

He sniffed. “Y-YEAH?”

“S-So it’s probably too smart to go after humans!!! And!!! Uh!! The city is really big!! So there’s a good chance!! They won’t even get near it!! And, uh...Even if, uh, it  _ did  _ get close to the humans, it would, uh, just hide??” 

It was like she physically couldn’t stop herself from blabbering on about the stupid thing. Couldn’t stop singing the praises of an infested  _ weirdo  _ squatting in the dirt eating a hotcat it picked up off the ground. But if it made Pap feel better, she would do it for as long as it took.

Papyrus was silent. Undyne really hoped he would take her reassurances to heart. Then, finally, he gave her a weak smile, wiping away his orange tears. “YOU..MAKE SEVERAL GOOD POINTS, UNDYNE. HEH..PERHAPS I MAY HAVE GOTTEN TOO CARRIED AWAY, THINKING OF ONLY NEGATIVE THINGS. NYEH HEH..”

She practically collapsed with relief, the smile on her face twisting into something far more genuine. “You wanna come inside with me? I bet Sans still has some hot chocolate mix somewhere in the Lab.”

His eye sockets had gotten back a little of his usual spark. “I APPRECIATE THE OFFER, UNDYNE, THANK YOU. BUT.. I WOULD LIKE TO STAY OUT HERE, JUST A LITTLE LONGER, IF THAT’S ALRIGHT.

Somehow, she knew she wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it. She turned away to walk back to the doors of the compound, but paused.

“...Would the Great Papyrus still want a mug of hot chocolate?”

He turned away from the fenceline to smile at her, a softer version of his usual blinding grin. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.”

As she approached the door, Papyrus called out suddenly.

“EXTRA MARSHMALLOWS PLEASE!! BUT ONLY THE MINIATURE ONES!!”

“Fuhuhuhu! You got it!!!”

He waited for her to disappear behind the door before he turned to the horizon again. The sight of the crumbling city now brought him a grim sense of apprehension.

“PLEASE BE ALRIGHT”, he whispered. “PLEASE PLEASE  _ PLEASE  _ BE ALRIGHT, LITTLE ANOMALY..”

  
  


\--

You tried your best to keep from wheezing as you curled up inside the dumpster, surrounded by bags of trash. The faint smell of a meal curled in the air, but no one dared to try and seek it out. 

When meals were this deep into the city, they weren’t there to be hunted. They were there to  _ hunt. _

The trash was piled high in the dumpster, effectively shielding you from view. If you craned your head over the lip, you could see two more of your allies hidden in the alleyway, huddled together in a doorway. You made eye contact with one of them, and made a soft rumble of reassurance. These meals had a pattern- they come, they kill, then they leave. Once they were satisfied, they would leave the rest alone to flee another day.

Driven into the rain by relentless hunger, you had been scrounging for something edible in the alley when you heard the warning call. The ones that were scrounging with you froze, and immediately searched for somewhere to hide. Some dove into the piles of refuse, while others scrambled for somewhere else to hide. You were slower than most with your limp, usually not an issue, but now it was your greatest weakness. You stumbled a few times as you hobbled to the dumpster, trying desperately not to drag your bad leg on the pavement and attract unwanted attention. Now, in the mazes of the alleys, it was a waiting game. 

Something knocked over a can, not too far from you. You flinched, anticipating the awful, loud pop. But none came. Instead, a frantic warble.

Someone was out in the open.

You tried to maneuver yourself to catch a glimpse of this interloper, but couldn’t. Whoever it was, they were too short to be seen unless you maneuvered yourself better. The two huddled across from you could see better, but they weren’t much use. They simply tried to curl up tighter into their dark corner. What could you do?

Pops rang out in an alley a little ways away. They were close. Too close for comfort. They would no doubt be taking this alley soon, trying to flush out more prey, and the straggler would be caught. If you shuffled some bags around, you could possibly pull them into the dumpster with you. But you could also leave them out in the open. When the meals inevitably come down this alley, they may think the straggler was the only one here, and move on quicker. 

What to do..?

You managed to prop yourself up a little bit on the bag under you, pushing yourself up on your elbows. Ever so slowly, you edged yourself up to look.

Oh no.  _ Oh no... _

Your eyes fell on the smallest hordeling you had ever seen. It occupied the middle of the alley with a terrified expression. An arm was missing, but otherwise it looked to be in good condition. It clutched it’s stump with the other hand, wide-eyed as it looked over its shoulder in the direction of the meals. It had probably been separated from it’s caregiver when everyone had scattered. 

Your hands trembled, itching to grab it. You couldn’t bear to abandon it, not when it was so tiny, and so close to you. But smaller ones were easily spooked. If you startled it, it could scream, and you would doom all four of you.

An ear-shattering  _ POP _ rang out, frighteningly close. There was no time to think. You had to grab it,  _ now.  _

Trash bags crashed to the ground as you lunged out of your hiding place toward the hordeling. Time seemed to slow as it turned towards you, face contorting in fear. As it opened its mouth to wail, you made a split second decision.

Clutching the back of it’s head with one hand, you stuffed your hand into it’s tiny mouth. The little one’s jaw automatically clamped down, it’s teeth piercing the meat of your hand. You fought back a hiss as you pulled it backwards towards the dumpster. 

The hordeling flailed in your grip, trying desperately to kick you and get away. More bags crashed to the ground, echoing throughout the alleyway. 

“ **Stop it! I’m trying to help!”**

Your hushed hiss made the little one pause. It stopped flailing, just for a moment, to register your hazy eyes, your exposed skull, your shared language. Once it realized you weren’t the one to fight against, it scrambled to help you haul itself into the container. The hordeling burrowed into the trash bags alongside you, now silent.

Now that the little one was hidden, you turned your attention to building up the bags around your huddled bodies. As you tried to shift the bags as quietly as possible, an ugly guttural yell signaled their presence.

They were here.

The little one pressed itself against you, trembling. Through a small crack between the lid and the lip of the trashcan, you could see just a small sliver of the alley. Though their crunching steps announced their close proximity to your hiding place, none of them came into your line of vision. 

You pulled the little one close, trying your best not to breathe at all, terrified of what it could bring. As they stalked the alleyway, the two of you could do nothing more than tremble, and wait.

…

A tiny hand slipped into yours.

…

Have you done enough to protect it?

…. **_POW! POW!_ **

The twin cracks reverberated through your skull as they split the air, awful and mighty. You felt it in your silent chest and in your very core, almost forcing you to split apart with it. The two of you tried your very best not to gasp out loud at the sheer  _ power _ that crackled through the air and roared in your ears, gripping each other with as much force as your weak muscles could muster. It didn’t take a healthy mind to know who it was. The noise was so close to you, and yet, here you sat and shook.

Two shots for two bodies.

Despite the danger choking the air, you couldn’t help a small pang of remorse for the other two that had sought shelter in this alley with you. Careful not to disturb the trash surrounding you, you forced a shaky hand to rub the little one’s back in what you hoped was a soothing gesture.

When the echoes had finally died, and the ringing had stopped, all that was left in the alley was the hideous,  _ repulsive  _ sound of the meals chattering to each other. They were loud, triumphant, excited about their kill. Two terrified victims, curled up together in a cold and wet alleyway. Not to mention the others they had brought down, the others they picked off as if they were nothing. You waited, breathless, for the next noise to split you apart. 

But the meals merely strolled on, their footsteps gradually growing quieter as they deemed this alley purged, and moved on to another. Soon, it was silent once more, save for the gentle rainfall.

You didn’t dare leave your hiding place, not yet. For a while, you merely listened for anything else, patting the little one gently as the occasional pops got farther and farther away. 

You finally let out a full, broken breath and slackened your grip on the little one. It relaxed and leaned back, taking an opportunity to study you better. You opened your mouth to say something, but found that anything you tried to convey had already died in your throat. The hordeling didn’t seem to mind either way. 

It reached for your hand, the one it had clamped down on earlier. The places that were pierced were as discolored as they could get, ugly shades of purple and red slowly blooming under your cold, dead skin. With a touch so light you could barely feel it, the little one traced the bite it had left, shoulders curled forward in embarrassment. 

“ **‘M sorry for biting you.”** It furrowed it’s brow, but didn’t meet your eyes. “ **It’s inappropriate.”**

You couldn’t help but smile at that. It sounded odd coming from such a small one, like something picked up from a chastising caregiver.

**“It’s okay. You did the right thing.”**

Finally meeting your eyes, the... **child** gave you a shy smile. And for once, things came trickling back to you slow and soft, like sweet rain drops.

\--

When it inevitably came time to crawl out of the dumpster, you told the child to let you investigate first. As soon as you poked your head over the side, you grimaced.

It was a grisly sight. The noise was indeed the end of the two on the other side of the alley, their dark liquid splattering the doorstep they were curled up on. One had its head completely blown to bits, while the other’s lower jaw still clung to the rest of it. What a pitiful way to go, hunched in a dark corner, terrified. It took real effort to tear your eyes away from the scene, but you managed. Hopping out first, you turned to help the child still sitting in the trash.

**“I need you to do me a favor”,** you rasped.  **“Do you think you’re up for it?”**

You received a curious look, then a nod.

“ **I’m going to help you out of there, but I need you to close your eyes, as tight as you can, and don’t open them until I tell you to. Can you do that?”**

The child’s eyes closed obediently, and wrapped it’s arm around your neck. Grunting slightly, you lifted them up over the lip of the dumpster. You half expected them to detach themselves, but they simply wrapped their legs around your middle, burying their face into your neck.

It was an awful thing, avoiding the chunks that were sprinkled around the area. Bits and pieces sprinkled in the alley were difficult to dodge, but you felt as if you owed it to the fallen duo not to step in any parts of them. Carefully, you made your way out of the alleyway, and breathed a sigh of relief when you stepped out onto the street. The child stayed true to the favor you had asked of them, and only raised their head when you had murmured the all clear. 

The streets were almost barren, a sight that unnerved you more than you would care to admit. The main streets were always filled, whether ones were loitering around an old building or stumbling around. 

How many had they picked off, you wondered.

You weren’t quite sure what to do next, frankly. After all of that, you simply wanted to go and rest for as long as you possibly could. The quiet space of the building honestly sounded so tempting, you could practically run to it. Well. Practically.

The little one wriggled in your hold, clearly wanting to be released. You obliged, and the child slipped off of you to the ground. With no hesitation, they grabbed your hand and walked along with you, swinging your arms together.

Ah, right. The child needed to be returned. 

You cleared your throat as well as you could. “ **So.. any idea where your caregiver is?”**

Their grip tightened. Guess that was a no.

Perhaps they would recognize someone on the street, or even see their caregiver out looking for them. You had walked an awful lot over the course of today, not to mention what the two of you had just come back from. Could you really muster the strength to wander the city back and forth for the hordeling?

You didn’t even bother weighing your options. Of course you would. You had come this far together, haven’t you? 

A tug in a certain direction, towards someone reclining on the pavement a little ways away. An acquaintance, maybe?

He watched the two of you approach, clearly still on edge from the hunting earlier. “ **Well, well. Evenin’, y’all. What can I do for ya’?”** He sounded cordial enough as he scrutinized the little one, then you.

You gestured towards the child. “ **Looking for their caregiver. Separated earlier. Do you know anything about someone missing a hordeling?”**

**“Hmm..lemme think..”**

He made a show of ‘thinking’ about it, leaning back and rubbing his chin in an exaggerated movement. The little one leaned in, completely buying his little joke.

He grinned at the little one, then turned to you.  **“As a matter a’fact, I most certainly do, most certainly do. A young thing was up and down a couple of streets, hollerin’ and fussin’ somethin about a little one a while ago. ”**

**“Could you describe them?”**

He scratched an empty eye socket absentmindedly. “ **As I recall, this particular little lady was mostly intact, save for some nasty lookin’ wounds on her back. Poor thing looked positively mangled. ‘S that anythin’ helpful?”**

The child nearly wrenched your arm out of your socket, eyes wide and bright as they nodded vigorously.

**“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!”,** he warbled proudly.  **“You’ll find her down at that large buildin’ on the other side’a town, the one with the large embellishment above the entrance. Said she was gonna wait down there for her little one for a spell. Y’all might could still catch her. Y’all know the buildin’ I’m speakin’ of?”**

You blinked. Actually, you knew exactly where it was. It was where you were going to rest after the hordeling was returned safely. If you booked it down the main streets, the child could be reunited with their caregiver before it got too dark to see. Well. Your definition of booking it. 

You thanked him for his help, then turned to leave. 

“ **Ma’am? Just one last thing.”**

His expression darkened. “ **I’d take the long ways there if I was you. Main road’s...not suitable for the little one as of yet.”**

You caught on to his hint easily.

Bodies. Most likely blown to bits in the same fashion as the two in the alley.

The main road would certainly be quicker, but with the wee one, it was no longer even a possibility. 

You gave him a terse nod before you turned again. As you limped towards a side street, the child tugged your hand again. They let go of your hand to reach up, towards your neck.

“ **Up?”,** they gurgled hopefully.

You huffed, but relented. You tried your best to squat down to their height as they leapt onto your back, almost making you stumble forward. They clambered up your spine with relative ease and hooked their one arm around your neck. You drew your arms behind you to support their legs, and shakily rose to your feet. 

The two of you set off, admittedly a little slower than your regular shuffle. All of these extra things definitely set you back as far as time, but after what the little one just had to go through, you could hardly refuse them anything. 

Besides, it was nice. Carrying them like this reminded you of others, even if the recollection was heavily shrouded in dark and blurry confusion. How many times had you carried someone that little like this, in a position so bizarre? 

You turned down another street, your weak limb scraping the ground a little harder than usual. This wee one was heavier than they looked…

A voice directly next to your ear piped up.  **“Why are you so slow?”**

The flesh covered corner of your mouth twitched upward.  **“Because I’m carrying you.”**

**“You’re always slow. Like, all the time. Even when you were just by yourself, you were still slow.”**

You snorted.  **“Gee, thanks.”**

The questions just kept rolling.  **“Did you get hurt? Is that why you’re slow?”**

**“I guess so.”**

**“Did you get hurt today?”**

**“Not today, no.”**

**“..Did you get hurt yesterday?”**

**“No. I’ve had it for a long time.”**

**“Like… 4 days ago?”**

**“Longer.”**

**“......5 days?”**

**“Even longer than that.”**

**“Four thousand days??”**

You sighed.  **“Sure.”**

A small noise of awe.

You trudged on in silence, ever so slowly making your way to the building. Twisting and turning down streets that were just starting to be occupied by wary and weary neighbors emerging from their hiding places. 

When the two of you were very nearly to the building, a wail of agony erupted from several streets down. If you had to guess, someone had found their kin sprawled in the road. You were grateful for the heads up.

The child, who had remained content to simply cling to your back in silence, decided to speak up. Their groan was hushed, as if afraid to be heard.

**“Why do they do it? Why do they...hurt us?”**

How would you even answer that? How could you tell a child so small that something much bigger and stronger than they would ever be wanted to destroy them? Obliterate them, rip them apart and leave nothing behind, and be gleeful about it? You hated the fact that this had to even be explained to them, after they hid among trash to avoid having their head blown apart by such an ugly and simple minded  _ thing _ .

Where to begin? 

**“Meals..aren’t like us”,** you began hesitantly. “ **They can’t think like we do. Or talk like we do. All they can do is hurt us. They don’t know any better.”**

The child seemed to consider this carefully.  **“Maybe...if we be nice to them, they would be nice to us back.”**

You were sure the two in the alley were nice, and look what they got. But you had to admit things would be far better if what the wee one said was true. 

**“Maybe so.”** you conceded. 

You began to ascend the steps of the building.

  
  
  


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW. Fun fact, this chapter has a higher word count than the other two put together! I was planning on this being more bite-sized (ba dum tiss!) but it just...kept going. 
> 
> I wonder what kind of building it is for zombies to find themselves gathering in it? Sounds like a pretty hoppin' place to me. As always, let me know what you thought, I read every single comment but most of the time I'm too nervous to reply. Just know that every comment I get thrills me to bits! (BA DUM TISSS)  
> .....I gotta stop. Until next time, dear Readers!


	4. A wish your myocardium makes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems someone else Remembers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo hordelings! My my, look at you all! The crowd has certainly gotten bigger, hasn't it? To all my returning readers, thank you for your patience, I have risen from the dead! And to the new readers, welcome to the horde! Enjoy your stay, we have hotcats ;D
> 
> But seriously, apologies for the wait. 2020 was the absolute worst year to be in my line of work. (Understatement of the century. Wear your mask, kiddos. I'm healthy as a horse and had mostly lesser symptoms, but having trouble breathing was the most terrifying experience of my life. I've recovered now, but. Seriously. Wear your mask and distance.)
> 
> But I digress. I've been snowed in for a couple days now, and I figured there was no better way to keep the rigor mortis at bay than to finish this chapter that's been glaring at me from my unfinished pile! Please enjoy!

**“Did you have a good sleep?”**

  
  


The child sat cross legged in the lap of their caregiver, waiting expectantly for an answer.

  
  


You frowned as you worked your stiff arm around in it’s socket. The question felt so oddly bland and mundane, yet so out of place at the same time. A  _ good  _ sleep? Did they mean something along the lines of ‘ _ did you collapse at the edge of the huddle softer than usual?’,  _ or maybe something like ‘ _ can you move around easier than normal today?’ _ Either of those sounded much more reasonable than ‘ _ did you have a good sleep?’ _

  
  


If anything, your sleep time had been rougher than usual. The two of you had stumbled into the building long after it got dark, much to the irritation of the huddle of sleeping neighbors you nested with. The child wasted no time in calling rather loudly for their caregiver, leaving you to awkwardly stand at the doors while dozens of sleepy, cloudy eyes snapped open and focused themselves rather wrathfully on you.

  
  


You tried your best to quietly explain what happened, hoping to earn enough sympathy to earn yourself a sleeping buddy for the night, or at least get someone to move over enough to let you wriggle farther into the group where it was warmer. A couple huddlemates seemed to soften a bit at the abbreviated version of your ordeal in the dumpster, just enough to make you hopeful. 

  
  


That is, until someone new near the middle of the group let out a joyful cry and trampled over anyone too sleepy to get out of her way fast enough. Scooping up the little one, she wailed and sobbed as loud as her rotting lungs would allow her, clamoring to the world how worried she was. 

  
  


Those sympathetic looks turned practically sub-zero in seconds as everyone seemed content with blaming you for bringing the little noise machine inside. One by one, they turned their backs to you, grumbling.

  
  


_ Apparently,  _ someone begrudgingly explained to you, she had been hysterical for hours, wailing for her lost little one and begging for help from anyone who would listen. It took ages for the huddle to comfort her into a calmer state, and even longer to coax her into the compromise of a search party in the morning light. They had even invited her into the coveted middle of the huddle, reserved only for certain members who needed the extra warmth to move better in the morning. She had finally drifted off when, (to quote the source directly) _ ,  _ **_“_ ** **you and the little rat burst in with** **_no_ ** **consideration for everyone else already asleep and set her off again. Do you have any idea how long that took?! My ears were STILL ringing from her meltdown when I went to the sleep pile! And when I finally get some peace and quiet, you two BARGE in and make MORE NOISE. The hell’s wrong with you?!”**

  
  


Needless to say, you had lost a potential sleeping buddy that night.

  
  


You were forced to the edge of the group after that, enviously watching everyone who had a sleeping buddy curl up all nice, warm and snug and drift off almost immediately. The prospect of shivering by yourself for hours as you waited to be unconscious was definitely not an appealing one. You had wrapped your arms around yourself and started to settle in for your long night, until a small hand patted your shoulder. 

  
  


Under normal circumstances, you’d ignore someone who had cost you your space in the huddle. You’d turn your back, like everyone else, and do your best to ignore them to show your irritation. But... 

  
  


The little one had gone through  _ so much  _ today, losing their caregiver and being moments away from getting their head blown off their body in a matter of hours. It was embarrassing to admit, but you had grown rather attached to the one armed little banshee. Their endless energy had made the trek back feel a little shorter, the feelings of helplessness and anger from the day had gradually ebbed away, and you were grateful for it. 

  
  


Besides, something about this exact situation seemed...familiar.

  
  


So you raised your head and, after looking to their caregiver for approval, slowly untangled your limbs to make a small space for them. With a squeal of delight, the child dove into your lap, wriggling and fidgeting until they were comfortable resting against you. The little nuisance gripped your torso, wrapping their one arm around you, and settled in. Their caregiver sat down with a huff and scooted towards you as well, adding her warmth into your own little huddle.

  
  


…..What was it about this that seemed so familiar? A tiny child, clutching a blanket in your doorway and crawling into bed with you…

  
  


(.....What’s a bed?)

  
  


You ended up spending most of the night trying to capture those odd whispers in your mind long enough to force them into clarity, but it only resulted in giving you another splitting headache.

  
  


Great. 

  
  


**“..Helloooo?”**

  
  


A small hand waved in front of your eyes, coming dangerously close to touching you before it was pulled back and smacked lightly by the caregiver. With a blink, you realized the child was still waiting for your answer. 

  
  


You were still a little confused by what they meant by ‘a good sleep.’ Perhaps the best choice would be a neutral answer?

  
  


**“Uh. It was okay? I guess?”**

  
  


The hordeling didn’t seem too pacified with the bland response. Their tiny face pulled into a scowl. “ **That’s it??”**

  
  


**“I mean, it wasn’t terrible, and it wasn’t really nice, so I guess it was just okay.”**

  
  


The child hugged their arm close to their chest for a moment, then let their arm go slack, as if it took a moment to remember they didn't have the other arm to cross it with. " **Two out of ten."**

  
  


**"...I'm sorry?"**

  
  


They puffed their chest out to give you the most over exaggerated sigh you've ever heard. " **That's a really boring answer. It's the third worst answer ever. So you only get a two out of ten, because you're so boring."**

  
  


...Ouch. Yesterday you were slow, now you were boring. 

  
  


They tried to say more, but were cut off by their mortified caregiver's hand over their mouth. The judgy little banshee wouldn't be silenced so easily, and fought to make their judgement heard over the older girl's scolding: 

  
  


" **BUT IT WAS!! I WAITED FOR FOREVER!!**

  
  


**"Hush,** **_please_ ** **! It's not nice to say things like that-"**

  
  


**"PEOPLE DESERVE TO KNOW IF THEY'RE BORING!!"**

  
  


The tiny tyrant continued their tirade, standing in an attempt to escape the older girl’s hand over their mouth. The older girl scrambled to stretch up to replace it, but the child even resorted to craning their neck as far as it would go to continue yelling about how boring people were the second worst kind of people and that they shouldn't be allowed to talk. (You kind of agreed with that part, sometimes it felt like you should just keep the last half of your mouth shut.) The rest of the building fell into stunned silence as the scene continued.

  
  


Around you, others begin to turn and watch. Some give the three of you nasty glares, an effect of last night no doubt, while others simply were interested in the sudden noise. The longer the two bicker, the more neighbors seem to gather. They circled the three of you, watching.

  
  


You weren’t too keen on more unwanted attention, lest you lose more sleeping partners, or even worse, get cast out altogether. The eyes on the three of you were making some part of you shudder uncomfortably, and the disgusting feeling it brought to your gut was  _ painful.  _ As the child continued to fuss and wail, the horrible feeling sharpened.

  
  


Would...would they kick you out of the huddle because you had set the hordeling off? Would they force you to wander to cold streets in search of another group while your body shut down during the cold night? 

  
  


Too many eyes. Too many faces. Too much  _ pain.  _ You didn’t like the pain, not one bit. Your body began to twitch, trying to stir itself to fight against whatever was attacking you. Your broken breaths grew sharper, each gasp felt like a great weight in your chest. You wanted desperately for the pain to go away. You wanted the eyes to go away. 

  
  


They were looking at you because the child was shrieking and causing a scene, right? So maybe if you could get the child to stop, the eyes and pain would too? You couldn’t really muster much of a plan in your frantic, decayed mind, but anything was worth a shot at this point. You really didn’t want to, but you raised your voice to drown out the child’s.

  
  


**“Hey, stop! I was just kidding before!! I didn't really mean it! I had a great sleep! ! The** **_best_ ** **sleep! I even had a….um….”**

  
  


You paused. Had a what? the word was on the tip of your tongue, so familiar, and yet soon as you needed it, it had escaped you. you could not for the life (or more appropriately, the  _ unlife _ ) of you remember the word to describe... wherever you were going with that.

  
  


Surprisingly, your attempt had worked, as the child quieted immediately, and slowly slid down from its caretaker's shoulder where it had clambered to scream down to the older one's lap. The child looked at you with wide, owlish eyes. The total 360 from shrieking banshee to quiet and attentive unnerved you, but you manage to hold your ground.

  
  


The two of you held eye contact, rigid as rigor mortis, until the child suddenly broke into a wide excited grin. They leaned in, their eyes looking practically alive with enthusiasm.

  
  


**“I get it now”,** they whispered loudly. Deliberately, they blinked hard once with both eyes.

  
  


You frowned.

  
  


**“...Was that supposed to be a wink?”**

  
  


The child returned your frown, leaning back.

  
  


**“..Is that not how you do it?”**

  
  


You considered this carefully, sifting through your foggy memories with furrowed brows. Nothing suggested they were wrong, at least. It was hard to tell when every glimpse of a face that was left was blurred beyond recognition. 

  
  


Oh well.

  
  


**“You know, I'm not really sure?”** Your groan was tilted up in the end in confusion.

  
  


The child dismissed it with a wave from their remaining hand. **“I'm sure I'm right then. I'm right about most things,”** they leaned in again with that wide grin, like they had found a new shiny trinket. **“Like I was right about you! You have them too, don't you?”**

  
  


You blinked once, twice, and echoed the only thing your deadened brain could muster. **“...Have what?”**

  
  


The child answered in a gleeful tone.  **“The Pictures! The pictures you see when you go to sleep! You see them too, don't you? Of course you do, don't lie!”**

  
  


  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! As always, comments are treasured and appreciated! Usually I'm too scared to respond but! I have decided! To make an effort!! Nyeh!!


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